Answer #3 (part two)

EQ: What is the best way to write a successful screenplay?

Answer: The best way to write a successful screenplay is to throw theme out of the window.

Evidence:
1. Theme grows out of story. Story does not grow out of theme.
2. Theme is cerebral, desire is emotional, and art is emotional.
3. If you start with theme then your writing is limited, like trying to work around proving a point your story becomes more of an argument and a thesis than anything else. This kills the surprise and delight that makes the movie experience.

Source: Hal Ackerman, co-chair of the screenwriting program at UCLA and author of Writing Screenplays That Sell.